The Abia State government is making good its intention of converting the enormous wastes generated in its cities into useful and profitable products.
To this end, the state government has entered into partnership with the Kingdom of the Netherlands and sealed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a firm, Kaltani Company to implement the waste to wealth initiative.
Governor Alex Otti had received a delegation from the Netherlands led by the Deputy Consul-General of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria, Mr. Peter Keulers. They came on a three-day “scoping mission” in Abia which ended on Thursday.
Part of the delegation along with the Kaltani Company led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Obi Charles Nnanna, whose firm would in due course commence the project of turning Abia wastes into wealth.
A statement from the state government on the visit said that Governor Otti informed the delegation of Abia’s readiness and openness for business, adding that the state “is not seeking for aid but exploring areas of collaboration for mutual benefits.”
He recalled that at the inception of his administration in May 2023, Abia was placed among the dirtiest states in Nigeria but the story has changed after he declared an emergency on waste management and environmental cleanliness.
Otti stated that his decision has yielded the desired result as Abia is presently rated as one of the cleanest states in Nigeria with the state now thinking of what to do with wastes evacuated and dumped at designated sites on a daily basis.
“We are now moving to the next stage which is the stage of, what do we do with those heaps of rubbish and that is why Kaltani Company came in to say, there are two ways to deal with it,” he said.
The Abia governor stated that the thinking of his government is that “the better thing to do will be to convert the waste into products that people will buy,” adding that the ones “in very serious demand here are waste to wealth or waste to energy.”
“The demand for energy is inelastic and you know how it is for people who are entrepreneurs, people who have capacity to produce anything, so these people require support from government.
“For us, we believe that if we are able to provide enough power for our people, we would have solved half of the problems,” Otti said.
Leader of the Dutch delegation, Mr. Keulers had earlier in his remarks, explained that his team came on a scoping mission to meet with the Abia government, private sector and academic/research organisations to discuss possible areas of collaboration.
He said that the Kingdom of the Netherlands would deploy its technology and knowledge to meet both commercial and policy objectives in the areas of waste management, circular aspects of agriculture, among others.
According to the Deputy Consul-General, his country was very much interested in a circular economy as it would result in a more sustainable and resilient economy with less pollution and waste, as well as a more efficient use of scarce resources.
He told Governor Otti that the circular economy has the potential of creating all kinds of economic opportunities and employment in future, adding that his country was focused on promoting bilateral relations.
This, he noted, informed the delegation’s visit to the proposed site for the Kaltani waste management facility in Abia.
The MD/CEO of the Kaltani Company, which is a key development partner in the waste to wealth project, Engr. Nnanna expressed the readiness of the firm to execute the project of waste collection and recycling.
He described Otti as “a man of vision that wants to create a lasting impact in the lives of Abians and we are happy to be part of that story.”
“We intend to galvanise waste, we intend to create jobs, we intend to address multiple United Nations SDGs,” Nnanna assured the governor and other government officials at the meeting.
Areas of interest visited by the Dutch delegation included the Recycling Park and Landfills at Osisioma, existing burrow pits and dumpsites in Aba and Umuahia, transfer loading station in Umuahia.
They also visited Ulonna Rubber Plantation at Ndi Oji Abam, Aba Textile Mill and Textile Market, Recycling facilities in Aba and Umuahia, as well as Leather and Apparels Clusters in Aba.